Swingable armrest for desks



July 29, 1952 L. LIETZ SWINGABLE ARMREST FOR DESKS Filed Aug. 3, 1948Fig.2.

Lilas L. Lierz m 'ENTOR.

WW 3m Patented July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I SWINGABLEARMREST FOR DESKS Lilas L. Lietz, Black River Falls, Wis.

Application August 3, 1948, Serial No. 42,215

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in armrests for desks and more particularly to a swingable arm rest wherebythe same may be swung horizontally to a position at the side of thedesk, when desired.

In the usual oflice desk construction an arm rest is provided whichslides outwardly under the top of the desk and over the stack of drawersat the side of the desk and which prevents access to the uppermostdrawer when the arm rest is moved outwardly in front of the desk.Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an armrest which may be swung outwardly at the side of the desk to thus permitaccess to the uppermost drawer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter of simple and practical construction, which is efficient andreliable in use, neat and attractive in appearance, relativelyinexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposesfor which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an office desk and showingthe slot in the side thereof to provide for the swinging movement of thearm rest;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially ona line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the arm rest removed from the desk;and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on a line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention,the numeral 5 designates an office desk which includes a top 6, a sideor end wall 7 and a stack of sliding drawers 8 at the side of the desk.

A slot or opening 9 is formed in the front of the desk under the top andabove the drawers 8 and a similar slot or opening I is formed in theside or end wall I of the desk and in the plane of the slot or opening9.

An arm rest is shown generally at II and includes inner and outersections l2 and I3, respectively, the inner end of section 13 overlyingthe section l2 and pivoted thereto for horizontal swinging movement bymeans of a pin l4. A knob or handle I is suitably secured to the outerend of section 13 of the arm rest.

The inner section I2 is slidable in guides or rails l6 suitably securedin the desk abo e the uppermost drawer 8 whereby the arm rest may bepulled outwardly at the front of the desk through the opening 9 untilthe front end of in- 2 ner section 12 of the arm rest hits a stop I! atthe front of the rails 16.

After pulling the arm rest outwardly through the front opening 9, thefront section l3 of the arm rest may be swung horizontally in the sideopening In to project in a position outwardly at the side of the desk asshown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 of the drawings whereby to permitaccess to the drawers 8 when the latter are pulled outwardly.

By providing the horizontally swinging outer end 13 on the arm rest thesame may be used in its normal position in front of the desk, or at theside thereof.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation-and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A desk comprising a front, a side and a top, said front and side havingcommunicating, horizontally elongated openings therein, a pair ofspaced, parallel, longitudinal guides in the desk spaced beneath thetop, a slidable arm rest operable on the guides, said arm rest includingan inner section mounted on the guides, said arm rest further includingan outer section overlying the inner section and terminating in an innerend rounded from side to side, a pin in the center front portion of theinner section pivotally connecting the overlying inner end portion ofthe outer section thereto for horizontal swinging movement in oppositedirections, said outer section being operable in both of the openings,and a stop member on the front engageable by the inner section forlimiting outward sliding movement of the arm rest on the guides, theouter section of said arm rest being operable on said member.

LILAS L. LIETZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 496,057 Hubbell Apr. 25, 1893542,277 Pauly July 9,1895 953,457 Brinker Mar. 29, 1910 1,262,216 LeeApr. 9, 1918 2,037,919 Poe Apr. 21, 1936 2,458,473 Underwood Apr. .26,194.9

